Blogs from Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 44

On Monday, Casey, Mercedez, and I went to a small town called Takehara. Takehara is located about 2 hours East of Hiroshima (by train). The town offers historic buildings in a tranquil atmosphere. Takehara was once a flourishing town which thrived on local salt production. Well, there isn't much else to say about this town. It was pretty small, but it was the perfect place to visit on a relaxing day trip. Oh, it is known as "little Kyoto" because of the historic buildings and architecture found here.... read more

As this was another long weekend in Japan, the country for long weekends (hurrah!) a day trip was in order. Heather, Alexis, Jennifer (fellow Assistant Language Teachers from Hiroshima prefecture) and I decided to spend the day in the city of Iwakuni. It was a mere 45-minute train ride from the city centre of Hiroshima, and before we knew it, we were in the entirely new prefecture of Yamaguchi (although there was no Kristy to be found...those of you who are figure skating fans will appreciate this joke!) It was an interesting day indeed. Iwakuni proudly boasts to have one of the "three famous bridges" of Japan. I'm not sure where the other two are, but I can understand why the Kintai Bridge holds the company of the other two. It is a structurally interesting pedestrian ... read more

Once a year sake lovers from all over Japan gather in Saijo to sample each regions' finest sake... and let me tell you... this is a GREAT idea!!! For 1,500 Yen (about $16 Can.) you are given a once ounce sized sake glass which you walk around with to sample as much sake as you possibly can hold/tolerate. (Oh, "sake" is a Japanese alcoholic drink. The dictionary says that it is rice wine, but it can be made from rice, sweet potatoes, and many other things.) There were hundreds of sake samples to try at this festival, and it was an all weekend event. My friends and I arrived at the festival around 1:30 pm, and "sampled" until 8pm when they closed down for the day. I have never been a fan of sake (as ... read more

Today Casey and I decided to go on an adventure. It took us 2 days to decide to go to Onomichi City (to the east of us), and after arriving at the train station and discovering that it would cost almost $40 round trip for transportation, we decided to choose another destination. So, standing infront of the ticket machine at the train station we looked up at the map on the wall, and decided on a random town to the west of us. Iwakuni City (our new destination) only cost $18 round trip, so we thought it was a much better idea. Neither of us had brought any information on Iwakuni, nor did we have a map, but we did know that there was a famous bridge there, so we set off on our adventure, ... read more

The same weekend of the Undokai I went to the inaka to watch a traditional dance called Kagura. The next day Lisa and I went on an excursion to a small town called Iwakuni. Kagura is a traditional local dance/performance. The performers wear elaborate kimonos and different masks. Each performance tells a story and is accompanied by traditional music. It was all in Japanese yet the stories are pretty straightforward through the dancing so it was easy for us to follow. I am not exactly sure where the dancing all originated. Since it is so localized there is not much stuff about it on the internet. There was a huge Kagura exhibition in a town called Chiyoda. There were 10 of us and we rented 2 tatami areas to sit in. They do not have ... read more